Coiler furnaces used with reversing rolling mills (hereinafter frequently referred to as Steckel mills) require the incoming steel strip to engage the winding drum within the furnace. Upon engagement of the leading edge of the strip with the drum, the strip is coiled within the furnace. To facilitate the engagement of the leading edge of the strip with the receiving slot in the drum, a pivotable guide is conventionally provided within the furnace that is in operating position aligned with the intended path of travel of the incoming strip so that the leading edge of the strip more readily engages the winding drum receiving slot. Once the leading edge of the steel strip has engaged the drum and the drum has begun to wind up the strip within the furnace, the guide pivots out of the way (downwardly) into a rest position out of the way of the coil of strip.
The winding drum of the coiler furnace sometimes accumulates scale and debris that must be cleaned off. To this end, it is conventional practice to place a piece of scrap steel in contact with the winding drum when the coiler furnace is idle, cleaning off the winding drum as required. The procedure is rough and ready, sometimes ineffective, and is hazardous.